Chinese VP lauds 14th China-ASEAN Expo organizers

BEIJING — Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli lauded the successful holding of the 14th China-ASEAN Expo and the China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit in Nanning, China last week.

“China-ASEAN Expo is becoming better and better each year. The Expo is very successful,” Zhang told the 300 foreign journalists whom he met at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Thursday.

The China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO) was co-sponsored by ministries department of commerce or industry and trade of China and the 10 ASEAN member states as well as the ASEAN Secretariat and was organized by the People’s Government of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

ASEAN, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary, stands for Association of Southeast Asian Nation that includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines, this year’s rotating ASEAN chairman.

Zhang attended the opening of the China-ASEAN Expo where he announced the signing of the protocol on upgrading the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area.

He said the upgraded FTA will inject new impetus to bilateral economic and trade between China and 10 ASEAN countries that has reached USD 185 billion.

“China and ASEAN countries are learning from each other, exchange experiences, technologies and solutions through the Expo,” Zhang informed the 300 foreign journalists, including 35 from 10 ASEAN countries, who attended the 4th Media Cooperation Forum.-Jelly Musico/PNA